原文信息：
- 标题：2025 Annual Thanksgiving Message
- 作者：Warren Buffett
- 发表时间：2025-11-10
- 链接：PDF
- 中文翻译：Terrellchen
BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY INC.
NEWS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Omaha, NE (BRK.A; BRK.B) –
November 10, 2025
2025 年 11 月 10 日
Today, Warren E. Buffett converted 1,800 A shares into 2,700,000 B shares in order to give these B shares to four family foundations: 1,500,000 shares to The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation and 400,000 shares to each of The Sherwood Foundation, The Howard G. Buffett Foundation and NoVo Foundation. These donations have been delivered today.
今日，沃伦・E・巴菲特将 1800 股 A 股转换为 270 万股 B 股，捐赠给四家家族基金会：苏珊・汤普森・巴菲特基金会获赠 150 万股，舍伍德基金会、霍华德・G・巴菲特基金会及诺沃基金会各获赠 40 万股。上述捐赠已于今日完成交付。
Mr. Buffett’s comments to his fellow shareholders follow:
以下为巴菲特先生致股东的信：
To My Fellow Shareholders
致各位股东：
I will no longer be writing Berkshire’s annual report or talking endlessly at the annual meeting. As the British would say, I’m “going quiet.”
我将不再撰写伯克希尔的年度报告，也不会在年度股东大会上喋喋不休。用英国人的话说，我要 “退居幕后” 了。
Sort of.
差不多吧。
Greg Abel will become the boss at yearend. He is a great manager, a tireless worker and an honest communicator. Wish him an extended tenure.
格雷格・阿贝尔将于年底接任掌舵人一职。他既是卓越的管理者、勤勉不懈的实干家，更是坦诚直率的沟通者。愿他任期长久顺遂。
I will continue talking to you and my children about Berkshire via my annual Thanksgiving message. Berkshire’s individual shareholders are a very special group who are unusually generous in sharing their gains with others less fortunate. I enjoy the chance to keep in touch with you. Indulge me this year as I first reminisce a bit. After that, I will discuss the plans for distribution of my Berkshire shares. Finally, I will offer a few business and personal observations.
我会继续通过每年的感恩节寄语，与各位股东及我的孩子们聊聊伯克希尔的近况。伯克希尔的个人股东群体格外特别，他们总愿与境遇不佳者分享自身所得，这份慷慨实属罕见。我珍视与大家保持联系的机会。今年请容我先稍作追忆，随后再谈谈我所持伯克希尔股票的分配计划，最后分享几点关于商业与人生的感悟。
As Thanksgiving approaches, I’m grateful and surprised by my luck in being alive at 95. When I was young, this outcome did not look like a good bet. Early on, I nearly died.
感恩节日渐临近，年届 95 岁仍健在，这份幸运既让我心怀感恩，也倍感意外。年少时，我从没想过自己能活到这个年纪；早年，我甚至险些丧命。
It was 1938 and Omaha hospitals were then thought of by its citizens as either Catholic or Protestant, a classification that seemed natural at the time.
那是 1938 年，奥马哈的市民当时习惯将本地医院分为天主教医院和新教医院，这样的分类在当时看似理所当然。
Our family doctor, Harley Hotz, was a friendly Catholic who made house calls toting a black bag. Dr. Hotz called me Skipper and never charged much for his visits. When I experienced a bad bellyache in 1938, Dr. Hotz came by and, after probing a bit, told me I would be OK in the morning.
我们的家庭医生哈雷・霍茨是位友善的天主教徒，总是提着黑色医疗包上门出诊。他管我叫 “小船长”，诊疗费用向来低廉。1938 年我突发剧烈腹痛，霍茨医生闻讯上门，简单检查后告知我，到清晨便会好转。
He then went home, had dinner and played a little bridge. Dr. Hotz couldn’t, however, get my somewhat peculiar symptoms out of his mind and later that night he dispatched me to St. Catherine’s Hospital for an emergency appendectomy. During the next three weeks, I felt like I was in a nunnery, and began enjoying my new “podium.” I liked to talk – yes, even then – and the nuns embraced me.
随后他便回家吃晚饭，还打了会儿桥牌。然而，我那些颇为特殊的症状始终萦绕在他心头，当晚稍晚些时候，他便安排我前往圣凯瑟琳医院接受紧急阑尾切除术。在接下来的三周里，我感觉自己仿佛住进了修女院，却也渐渐爱上了这个新的 “小讲台”。我打小就爱说话 —— 没错，即便在那时也是如此 —— 而修女们始终包容着我。
To top things off, Miss Madsen, my third-grade teacher, told my 30 classmates to each write me a letter. I probably threw away the letters from the boys but read and reread those from the girls; hospitalization had its rewards.
更令人欣喜的是，我三年级的老师马德森小姐，让班上 30 名同学每人给我写了一封信。男孩们的信我或许随手丢了，但女孩们的信我读了一遍又一遍；原来住院也有这样的 “福利”。
The highlight of my recovery – which actually was dicey for much of the first week – was a gift from my wonderful Aunt Edie. She brought me a very professional-looking fingerprinting set, and I promptly fingerprinted all of my attending nuns. (I was probably the first Protestant kid they had seen at St. Catherine’s and they didn’t know what to expect.)
康复期间最难忘的时刻 —— 事实上，术后第一周的情况一直颇为凶险 —— 是我亲爱的伊迪阿姨送我的：一份礼物。她带来一套看起来十分专业的指纹采集工具，我当即给所有照料我的修女都采集了指纹。（我或许是她们在圣凯瑟琳医院遇到的第一个新教小孩，她们大概也不知该对我抱有什么期待。）
My theory – totally nutty, of course – was that someday a nun would go bad and the FBI would find that they had neglected to fingerprint nuns. The FBI and its director, J. Edgar Hoover, had become revered by Americans in the 1930s, and I envisioned Mr. Hoover, himself, coming to Omaha to inspect my invaluable collection. I further fantasized that J. Edgar and I would quickly identify and apprehend the wayward nun. National fame seemed certain.
我的想法 —— 当然，现在看来纯属胡闹 —— 是将来万一有修女走上歧途，联邦调查局（FBI）会发现他们竟未给修女采集过指纹。20 世纪 30 年代，FBI 及其局长 J・埃德加・胡佛已成为美国人敬仰的对象，我甚至幻想胡佛先生会亲自来到奥马哈，检视我这份 “无价之宝”。我还进一步畅想，自己会与埃德加一同迅速锁定并逮捕那位行为不端的修女，届时必将声名鹊起。
Obviously, my fantasy never materialized. But, ironically, some years later it became clear that I should have fingerprinted J. Edgar himself as he became disgraced for misusing his post.
显然，我的幻想从未成真。但颇具讽刺意味的是，多年后人们才发现，我当初本该给埃德加・胡佛本人采集指纹 —— 他最终因滥用职权而声名扫地。
Well, that was Omaha in the 1930s, when a sled, a bicycle, a baseball glove and an electric train were coveted by me and my friends. Let’s look at a few other kids from that era, who grew up very nearby and greatly influenced my life but of whom I was for long unaware.
那便是 20 世纪 30 年代的奥马哈，滑板、自行车、棒球手套和电动火车，都是我和朋友们梦寐以求的东西。让我们再来看看那个年代的其他几位年轻人，他们成长的地方离我家不远，深深影响了我的人生，可我却在很长一段时间里都未曾与他们相识。
I’ll begin with Charlie Munger, my best pal for 64 years. In the 1930s, Charlie lived a block away from the house I have owned and occupied since 1958.
首先要说说查理，我相交 64 年的老友。20 世纪 30 年代，查理住的地方离我 1958 年购置并居住至今的家，仅隔一个街区。
Early on, I missed befriending Charlie by a whisker. Charlie, 6 ⅔ years older than I, worked in the summer of 1940 at my grandfather’s grocery store, earning $2 for a 10-hour day. (Thrift runs deep in Buffett blood.) The following year I did similar work at the store, but I never met Charlie until 1959 when he was 35 and I was 28.
早年，我与查理的相识只差一步之遥。查理比我大 6 岁 8 个月，1940 年夏天曾在我祖父的杂货店里打工，每天工作 10 小时，薪水仅 2 美元。（节俭是巴菲特家族深入骨髓的特质。）次年，我也在这家店里做过类似的工作，但直到 1959 年才与查理相识 —— 彼时他 35 岁，我 28 岁。
After serving in World War II, Charlie graduated from Harvard Law and then moved permanently to California. Charlie, however, forever talked of his early years in Omaha as formative. For more than 60 years, Charlie had a huge impact on me and could not have been a better teacher and protective “big brother.” We had differences but never had an argument. “I told you so” was not in his vocabulary.
二战服役结束后，查理从哈佛法学院毕业，随后便永久定居加州。但查理始终说，奥马哈的早年生活塑造了他的人生。60 多年来，查理对我的影响极为深远，他既是最出色的导师，也是最贴心的 “老大哥”。我们虽有分歧，却从未争执过。“我早告诉过你” 这样的话，从未从他口中说过。
In 1958, I bought my first and only home. Of course, it was in Omaha, located about two miles from where I grew up (loosely defined), less than two blocks from my in-laws, about six blocks from the Buffett grocery store and a 6-7-minute drive from the office building where I have worked for 64 years.
1958 年，我买下了自己的第一套房子，也是我唯一常住的家。房子自然在奥马哈 —— 距离我成长的地方（宽泛意义上而言）约两英里，离岳父母家不到两个街区，距巴菲特杂货店约六个街区，开车到我工作了 64 年的办公楼，也只需 6 到 7 分钟。
Let’s move on to another Omahan, Stan Lipsey. Stan sold the Omaha Sun Newspapers (weeklies) to Berkshire in 1968 and a decade later moved to Buffalo at my request. The Buffalo Evening News, owned by a Berkshire affiliate, was then locked in a battle to the death with its morning competitor who published Buffalo’s only Sunday paper. And we were losing.
再来说说另一位奥马哈人斯坦・利普西。1968 年，斯坦将《奥马哈太阳报》（周报）出售给伯克希尔，十年后应我的请求移居布法罗。当时，伯克希尔旗下的《布法罗晚报》正与当地唯一发行周日版报纸的早报竞争对手陷入生死之战，而我们彼时正处于下风。
Stan eventually built our new Sunday product, and for some years our paper – formerly hemorrhaging cash – earned over 100% annually (pre-tax) on our $33 million investment. This was important money to Berkshire in the early 1980s.
斯坦最终打造出全新的周日版报纸，此后数年，这份曾一度亏损严重的报纸，凭借 3300 万美元的投资，实现了每年超过 100% 的税前回报率 —— 这笔收入在 20 世纪 80 年代初对伯克希尔而言至关重要。
Stan grew up about five blocks from my home. One of Stan’s neighbors was Walter Scott, Jr. Walter, you will remember, brought MidAmerican Energy to Berkshire in 1999. He was also a valued Berkshire director until his death in 2021 and a very close friend. Walter was Nebraska’s philanthropic leader for decades and both Omaha and the state carries his imprint.
斯坦成长的地方离我家约五个街区，他的邻居之一是小沃尔特・斯科特。大家应该还记得，沃尔特于 1999 年将中美能源集团带入伯克希尔，直到 2021 年去世前，他一直是伯克希尔极具价值的董事，也是我极为亲密的朋友。数十年来，沃尔特始终是内布拉斯加州慈善事业的领军人物，奥马哈市乃至整个州都留有他的深刻印记。
Walter attended Benson High School, which I was scheduled to attend as well – until my dad surprised everyone in 1942 by beating a four-term incumbent in a Congressional race. Life is full of surprises.
沃尔特曾就读于本森中学，我原本也计划进入这所学校 —— 可 1942 年，我父亲意外击败了一位任职四届的在任议员，成功当选国会议员。这一计划也随之改变。人生果然处处是意外。
Wait, there’s more.
别急，还有更多巧合等着细说。
In 1959, Don Keough and his young family lived in a home located directly across the street from my house and about 100 yards away from where the Munger family had lived. Don was then a coffee salesman but was destined to become president of Coca-Cola as well as a devoted director of Berkshire.
When I met Don, he was earning $12,000 a year while he and his wife Mickie were raising five children, all destined for Catholic schools (with tuition requirements).
我认识唐时，他年薪仅 1.2 万美元，却要和妻子米基一起抚养五个孩子，而且这些孩子都要就读天主教学校 —— 这意味着需要承担不菲的学费。
Our families became fast friends. Don came from a farm in northwest Iowa and graduated from Omaha’s Creighton University. Early on, he married Mickie, an Omaha girl. After joining Coke, Don went on to become legendary around the globe.
我们两家很快成了挚友。唐来自爱荷华州西北部的一个农场，毕业于奥马哈的克瑞顿大学。早年，他与奥马哈本地姑娘米基结为连理。加入可口可乐公司后，唐更是逐渐成为全球范围内的传奇人物。
In 1985, when Don was president of Coke, the company launched its ill-fated New Coke. Don made a famous speech in which he apologized to the public and reinstated “Old” Coke. This change of heart took place after Don explained that Coke incoming mail addressed to “Supreme Idiot” was promptly delivered to his desk. His “withdrawal” speech is a classic and can be viewed on YouTube. He cheerfully acknowledged that, in truth, the Coca-Cola product belonged to the public and not to the company. Sales subsequently soared.
1985 年，唐担任可口可乐总裁期间，公司推出了命运多舛的 “新可乐”。唐随后发表著名演讲，向公众致歉并重启 “经典可乐” 的销售 —— 他解释说，当时可口可乐收到许多抬头写着“头号白痴” 的邮件，这些邮件都直接送到了他的办公桌，这才促使他改变了主意。他的这场 “致歉撤回” 演讲堪称经典，在视频网站 YouTube 上至今可查。唐还坦然承认，事实上可口可乐产品属于公众而非公司，此后产品销量便大幅飙升。
You can watch Don on CharlieRose.com in a wonderful interview. (Tom Murphy and Kay Graham have a couple of gems as well.) Like Charlie Munger, Don forever remained a Midwestern boy, enthusiastic, friendly and American to the core.
你也可以在查理・罗斯访谈节目（CharlieRose.com）上观看对唐的精彩访谈。（汤姆・墨菲和凯・格雷厄姆的访谈也同样精彩。）和查理一样，唐始终是个中西部男孩，热情、友善，骨子里满是纯粹的美国人本色。
Finally, Ajit Jain, born and raised in India, as well as Greg Abel, our Canadian CEO-to-be, each lived in Omaha for several years late in the 20th Century. Indeed, in the 1990s, Greg lived only a few blocks away from me on Farnam Street, though we never met at the time.
最后要提到的是，在印度出生长大的阿吉特・贾恩，以及即将出任首席执行官的加拿大籍格雷格・阿贝尔，两人都在 20 世纪末于奥马哈居住过数年。事实上，20 世纪 90 年代，格雷格就住在法纳姆街上，离我家仅隔几个街区，但当时我们从未谋面。
Can it be that there is some magic ingredient in Omaha’s water?
难道奥马哈的水里，真的藏着某种神奇成分不成？
I lived a few teenage years in Washington, DC (when my dad was in Congress) and in 1954 I took what I thought would be a permanent job in Manhattan. There I was treated wonderfully by Ben Graham and Jerry Newman and made many life-long friends. New York had unique assets – and still does. Nevertheless, in 1956, after only 1½ years, I returned to Omaha, never to wander again.
我十几岁时曾在华盛顿特区生活过一段时间（当时我父亲在国会任职），1954 年还在曼哈顿找到了一份自以为会终身从事的工作。在那里，本・格雷厄姆和杰瑞・纽曼对我关怀备至，我也结交了许多终身挚友。纽约有着独特的优势 —— 如今依然如此。尽管如此，1956 年，仅仅工作了一年半后，我便回到了奥马哈，此后再未离开过这座城。
Subsequently, my three children, as well as several grandchildren, were raised in Omaha. My children always attended public schools (graduating from the same high school that educated my dad (class of 1921), my first wife, Susie (class of 1950) as well as Charlie, Stan Lipsey, Irv and Ron Blumkin, who were key to growing Nebraska Furniture Mart, and Jack Ringwalt (class of 1923), who founded National Indemnity and sold it to Berkshire in 1967 where it became the base upon which our huge P/C operation was constructed.
后来，我的三个孩子以及几个孙辈，都是在奥马哈长大的。我的孩子们一直就读于公立学校，且都毕业于同一所高中 —— 我的父亲（1921 届）、第一任妻子苏西（1950 届）、查理、斯坦・利普西、欧文・布卢姆金和罗恩・布卢姆金都毕业于此（其中，布卢姆金兄弟是内布拉斯加家具商城发展的核心人物），还有杰克・林沃尔特（1923 届），他创办了国民赔偿保险公司，并于 1967 年将其出售给伯克希尔，而这家公司也成为了我们庞大财产意外险业务的基石。
Our country has many great companies, great schools, great medical facilities and each definitely has its own special advantages along with talented people. But I feel very lucky to have had the good fortune to make many lifelong friends, to meet both of my wives, to receive a great start in education at public schools, to meet many interesting and friendly adult Omahans when I was very young, and to make a wide variety of friends in the Nebraska National Guard. In short, Nebraska has been home.
我们的国家有许多优秀的公司、顶尖的学校和一流的医疗设施，每一处都有其独特的优势，也都人才济济。但我深感幸运的是，自己能在奥马哈结交许多终身挚友，遇到两任妻子，在公立学校获得良好的教育启蒙，年少时还结识了许多有趣友善的奥马哈成年人，在内布拉斯加州国民警卫队中也交到了各种各样的朋友。简而言之，内布拉斯加就是我的家。
Looking back I feel that both Berkshire and I did better because of our base in Omaha than if I had resided anywhere else. The center of the United States was a very good place to be born, to raise a family, and to build a business. Through dumb luck, I drew a ridiculously long straw at birth.
回首往事，我愈发觉得，无论是伯克希尔还是我本人，正因将基地设在奥马哈，才取得了比定居其他任何地方都更为出色的成就。美国的中心地带，本就是出生、安家落户和创业的绝佳之地。承蒙好运眷顾，我生来便抽到了一手难以置信的好牌。
Now let’s move on to my advanced age. My genes haven’t been particularly helpful – the family’s all-time record for longevity (admittedly family records get fuzzy as you work backwards) was 92 until I came along. But I have had wise, friendly and dedicated Omaha doctors, starting with Harley Hotz, and continuing to this day. At least three times, my life has been saved, each with doctors based within a few miles from my home. (I have given up fingerprinting nurses, however. You can get away with many eccentricities at 95 … . . but there are limits.)
现在来说说我年迈的年纪。我的基因并不算出众 —— 家族有史以来的最长寿纪录（诚然，追溯得越远，家族纪录就越模糊）在我之前仅有 92 岁。但我有幸得到了奥马哈几位睿智、友善且尽职尽责的医生照料，从哈雷・霍茨开始，一直到如今。至少有三次，都是住在我家几英里范围内的医生救了我的命。（不过我已经不再给护士们采集指纹了。95 岁的年纪，或许能容忍不少怪癖，但凡事总有个限度。）
Those who reach old age need a huge dose of good luck, daily escaping banana peels, natural disasters, drunk or distracted drivers, lightning strikes, you name it.
能活到高龄的人，都需要极大的运气 —— 每天都要避开各种意外：比如脚下的香蕉皮、突如其来的自然灾害、酒驾或分心驾驶的司机、意外雷击，诸如此类，数不胜数。
But Lady Luck is fickle and – no other term fits – wildly unfair. In many cases, our leaders and the rich have received far more than their share of luck – which, too often, the recipients prefer not to acknowledge. Dynastic inheritors have achieved lifetime financial independence the moment they emerged from the womb, while others have arrived, facing a hell-hole during their early life or, worse, disabling physical or mental infirmities that rob them of what I have taken for granted. In many heavily-populated parts of the world, I would likely have had a miserable life and my sisters would have had one even worse.
但幸运女神向来变幻莫测，而且 —— 没有比这更贴切的词了 —— 极度不公。很多时候，我们的领导者和富人得到的运气，远超他们应得的份额，而这些受益者往往不愿承认这一点。出身豪门的继承人一出生，便拥有了终身的经济独立；可另一些人来到这个世界，就要面对悲惨的童年，更糟的是，还要承受身心残疾的折磨，而这些都是我曾视为理所当然的东西。在世界上许多人口稠密的地区，我很可能会过着悲惨的生活，而我的姐妹们的境遇或许会更糟。
I was born in 1930 healthy, reasonably intelligent, white, male and in America. Wow! Thank you, Lady Luck. My sisters had equal intelligence and better personalities than I but faced a much different outlook. Lady Luck continued to drop by during much of my life, but she has better things to do than work with those in their 90s. Luck has its limits.
我 1930 年出生，身体健康，智力尚可，身为白人男性，更有幸生于美国。哇！感谢幸运女神的眷顾。我的姐妹们和我智力相当，性格甚至比我更好，却面临着截然不同的人生前景。幸运女神在我人生的大部分时间里都时常眷顾，但她不会一直为 90 多岁的人操劳。运气总有耗尽的一天。
Father Time, to the contrary, now finds me more interesting as I age. And he is undefeated; for him, everyone ends up on his score card as “wins.” When balance, sight, hearing and memory are all on a persistently downward slope, you know Father Time is in the neighborhood.
相反，时光老人却随着我年岁渐长，对我愈发 “关注”。他从未失手，在他的记分牌上，每个人最终都是他的 “战利品”。当平衡感、视力、听力和记忆力都在持续衰退时，你就知道，时光老人已近在咫尺。
I was late in becoming old – its onset materially varies – but once it appears, it is not to be denied.
我步入老年的时间较晚 —— 衰老的到来本就因人而异 —— 但一旦到来，便无法抗拒。
To my surprise, I generally feel good. Though I move slowly and read with increasing difficulty, I am at the office five days a week where I work with wonderful people. Occasionally, I get a useful idea or am approached with an offer we might not otherwise have received. Because of Berkshire’s size and because of market levels, ideas are few – but not zero.
令我意外的是，我总体感觉还算不错。尽管行动迟缓，阅读也越来越困难，但我每周仍会五天前往办公室，与一群很棒的同事共事。偶尔，我还能想到一些有用的点子，或者收到一些原本可能无法得到的合作邀约。受伯克希尔的规模和当前市场水平影响，好点子虽不多，但并非没有。
My unexpected longevity, however, has unavoidable consequences of major importance to my family and the achievement of my charitable objectives.
然而，我意外的长寿，却给我的家庭和慈善目标的实现，带来了不可避免的重大影响。
Let’s explore them.
下面我们就来详细说说这些影响。
What Comes Next
后续安排
My children are all above normal retirement age, having reached 72, 70 and 67. It would be a mistake to wager that all three – now at their peak in many respects – will enjoy my exceptional luck in delayed aging. To improve the probability that they will dispose of what will essentially be my entire estate before alternate trustees replace them, I need to step up the pace of lifetime gifts to their three foundations. My children are now at their prime in respect to experience and wisdom but have yet to enter old age. That “honeymoon” period will not last forever.
我的孩子们都已过了常规退休年龄，分别是 72 岁、70 岁和 67 岁。虽说他们如今在许多方面仍处于巅峰状态，但要是打赌说三人都能像我这样幸运地延缓衰老，显然并不明智。为了提高他们在替代受托人接手前，妥善处理完我几乎全部遗产的概率，我需要加快向他们各自管理的三家基金会进行生前捐赠的步伐。我的孩子们如今正处于经验与智慧的黄金时期，尚未步入老年 —— 而这样的 “蜜月期” 不会永远持续。
Fortunately, a course correction is easy to execute. There is, however, one additional factor to consider: I would like to keep a significant amount of “A” shares until Berkshire shareholders develop the comfort with Greg that Charlie and I long enjoyed. That level of confidence shouldn’t take long. My children are already 100% behind Greg as are the Berkshire directors.
幸运的是，调整捐赠节奏并非难事。但还有一个额外因素需要考虑：我希望保留相当数量的 A 股，直到伯克希尔的股东们对格雷格完全放心 —— 就像他们长期以来对我和查理那样。这种信任想必无需太久便能建立。我的孩子们和伯克希尔的董事们，早已对格雷格全力支持。
All three children now have the maturity, brains, energy and instincts to disburse a large fortune. They will also have the advantage of being above ground when I am long gone and, if necessary, can adopt policies both anticipatory and reactive to federal tax policies or other developments affecting philanthropy. They may well need to adapt to a significantly changing world around them. Ruling from the grave does not have a great record, and I have never had an urge to do so.
如今，我的三个孩子都已成熟稳重，兼具智慧、精力和敏锐的直觉，足以妥善分配巨额财富。此外，我离世后他们依然健在，若有必要，还能根据联邦税收政策或其他影响慈善事业的发展，制定兼具前瞻性和应对性的策略。他们很可能需要适应周围这个瞬息万变的世界。“死后掌权” 向来鲜有成功案例，我也从未有过这样的念头。
Fortunately, all three children received a dominant dosage of their genes from their mother. As the decades have passed, I have also become a better model for their thinking and behavior. I will never, however, achieve parity with their mother.
幸运的是，我的三个孩子都从他们的母亲那里继承了优良的主导基因。数十年来，我也努力成为他们思想和行为的更好榜样。但无论如何，我永远无法与他们的母亲相提并论。
My children have three alternate trustees in case of any premature deaths or disabilities. The alternates are not ranked or tied to a specific child. All three are exceptional humans and wise in the ways of the world. They have no conflicting motives.
我为孩子们指定了三位替代受托人，以防他们中有任何人过早离世或丧失行为能力。这些替代受托人既无优先级排序，也不专属于某个孩子。他们三位都是品德出众、洞悉世事的人，不存在任何利益冲突。
I have assured my children that they do not need to perform miracles nor fear failures or disappointments. These are inevitable, and I have made my share. They simply need to improve somewhat upon what generally is achieved by government activities and/or private philanthropy, recognizing these other methods of redistribution of wealth have shortcomings as well.
我已向孩子们保证，他们无需创造奇迹，也不必畏惧失败或失望。这些本就不可避免，我自己也经历过不少。他们只需在政府行为和私人慈善事业的普遍成果基础上稍作改进即可，同时要认识到，这些财富再分配方式也存在自身的缺陷。
Early on, I contemplated various grand philanthropic plans. Though I was stubborn, these did not prove feasible. During my many years, I’ve also watched ill-conceived wealth transfers by political hacks, dynastic choices and, yes, inept or quirky philanthropists.
早年，我曾构思过各种宏大的慈善计划。尽管我很固执，但这些计划最终都被证明不可行。多年来，我也目睹过许多考虑不周的财富转移 —— 既有政治投机者、豪门继承人推行的，也有一些无能或古怪的慈善家实施的。
If my children simply do a decent job, they can be certain that their mother and I would be pleased. Their instincts are good and they each have had years of practice with very small sums initially that have been irregularly increased to more than $500 million annually.
只要我的孩子们能把这件事做好，我和他们的母亲就会感到欣慰。他们本性善良，而且多年来也一直在实践慈善事业 —— 起初是小额捐赠，后来不定期增加，如今每年的捐赠规模已超过 5 亿美元。
All three like working long hours to help others, each in their own way.
他们三人都愿意长时间工作，以各自的方式帮助他人。
The acceleration of my lifetime gifts to my children’s foundations in no way reflects any change in my views about Berkshire’s prospects. Greg Abel has more than met the high expectations I had for him when I first thought he should be Berkshire’s next CEO. He understands many of our businesses and personnel far better than I now do, and he is a very fast learner about matters many CEOs don’t even consider. I can’t think of a CEO, a management consultant, an academic, a member of government – you name it – that I would select over Greg to handle your savings and mine.
我加快向孩子们管理的基金会进行生前捐赠，绝不意味着我对伯克希尔的前景有任何看法上的改变。格雷格・阿贝尔的表现，早已超出我当初选定他作为伯克希尔下一任首席执行官时的高度期望。如今，他对我们众多业务与团队的了解，远比我深入；即便面对许多首席执行官根本不会涉足的领域，他也学得极快。无论对方是首席执行官、管理顾问、学者，还是政府官员 —— 不管是什么身份 —— 我实在想不出，有谁比格雷格更适合为你我管理资产。
Greg understands, for example, far more about both the upside potential and the dangers of our P/C insurance business than do a great many long-time P/C executives. My hope is that his health remains good for several decades. With a little luck, Berkshire should require only five or six CEOs over the next century. It should particularly avoid those whose goal is to retire at 65, to become look-at-me rich or to initiate a dynasty.
例如，格雷格对我们财产意外险业务的潜在收益和风险的理解，远超许多资深的财产意外险高管。我希望他能身体健康，长期任职数十年。若运气稍佳，伯克希尔在下个世纪或许只需五六位首席执行官。我们尤其应避免那些打算 65 岁退休、追求 “炫耀式” 财富或想要建立家族王朝的候选人。
One unpleasant reality: Occasionally, a wonderful and loyal CEO of the parent or a subsidiary will succumb to dementia, Alzheimer’s or another debilitating and long-term disease. Charlie and I encountered this problem several times and failed to act. This failure can be a huge mistake. The Board must be alert to this possibility at the CEO level and the CEO must be alert to the possibility at subsidiaries. This is easier said than done; I could cite a few examples from the past at major companies. Directors should be alert and speak up is all that I can advise.
一个令人不快的现实是：有时，母公司或子公司一位出色且忠诚的首席执行官，可能会患上痴呆症、阿尔茨海默病或其他使人衰弱的长期疾病。查理和我曾多次遇到这种情况，却未能及时采取行动，而这种疏忽可能酿成大错。董事会必须警惕首席执行官层面出现这种情况的可能性，而首席执行官也必须关注子公司管理层的此类风险。这说起来容易做起来难；我可以举几个过去大公司的例子为证。我能给出的建议唯有：董事们应保持警惕，勇于发声。
During my lifetime, reformers sought to embarrass CEOs by requiring the disclosure of the compensation of the boss compared to what was being paid to the average employee. Proxy statements promptly ballooned to 100-plus pages compared to 20 or less earlier.
我这一生，曾有改革者试图通过要求披露首席执行官与普通员工的薪酬差距，来让首席执行官们难堪。此后，委托书的篇幅迅速从之前的 20 页左右，膨胀到 100 多页。
But the good intentions didn’t work; instead they backfired. Based on the majority of my observations – the CEO of company “A” looked at his competitor at company “B” and subtly conveyed to his board that he should be worth more. Of course, he also boosted the pay of directors and was careful who he placed on the compensation committee. The new rules produced envy, not moderation.
但这些良好的初衷并未奏效，反而适得其反。根据我的多数观察：A 公司的首席执行官看到 B 公司竞争对手的薪酬后，会巧妙地向董事会暗示自己应该得到更高报酬。当然，他还会提高董事们的薪酬，同时谨慎挑选薪酬委员会的成员。新规则引发的是嫉妒，而非节制。
The ratcheting took on a life of its own. What often bothers very wealthy CEOs – they are human, after all – is that other CEOs are getting even richer. Envy and greed walk hand in hand. And what consultant ever recommended a serious cut in CEO compensation or board payments?
这种薪酬逐步攀升的趋势愈演愈烈，已然失控。事实上，富有的首席执行官们也是普通人，他们常常在意的是其他首席执行官变得更富有 —— 毕竟人性如此。嫉妒与贪婪向来如影随形。而有哪个顾问会建议大幅削减首席执行官或董事的薪酬呢？
In aggregate, Berkshire’s businesses have moderately better-than-average prospects, led by a few non-correlated and sizable gems. However, a decade or two from now, there will be many companies that have done better than Berkshire; our size takes its toll.
Berkshire has less chance of a devastating disaster than any business I know. And, Berkshire has a more shareholder-conscious management and board than almost any company with which I am familiar (and I’ve seen a lot). Finally, Berkshire will always be managed in a manner that will make its existence an asset to the United States and eschew activities that would lead it to become a supplicant. Over time, our managers should grow quite wealthy – they have important responsibilities – but do not have the desire for dynastic or look-at-me wealth.
在我所知的所有企业中，伯克希尔遭遇毁灭性灾难的概率最低。而且，公司管理层与董事会对股东利益的关注度，几乎超过了我所了解的任何一家企业（我见过的公司可不算少）。更重要的是，伯克希尔的经营始终以 “成为美国的优质资产” 为准则，坚决不涉足可能使其沦为依附者的活动。随着时间推移，我们的管理者理应变得相当富有 —— 他们肩负着重大责任 —— 但他们追求的并非家族王朝式或显耀式的财富。
Our stock price will move capriciously, occasionally falling 50% or so as has happened three times in 60 years under present management. Don’t despair; America will come back and so will Berkshire shares.
A Few Final Thoughts
最后的几点感悟
One perhaps self-serving observation. I’m happy to say I feel better about the second half of my life than the first. My advice: Don’t beat yourself up over past mistakes – learn at least a little from them and move on. It is never too late to improve. Get the right heroes and copy them. You can start with Tom Murphy; he was the best.
或许这是一种自私的感悟，但我很庆幸，人生的后半程比前半程更让我感到满足。我的建议是：不要为过去的错误过分懊恼 —— 至少从中学到一点东西，然后继续前行。任何时候想要改进都不算晚，找到真正的榜样并向他们学习就好。你可以从汤姆・墨菲开始，他是最棒的榜样。
Remember Alfred Nobel, later of Nobel Prize fame, who – reportedly – read his own obituary that was mistakenly printed when his brother died and a newspaper got mixed up. He was horrified at what he read and realized he should change his behavior.
还记得后来创立诺贝尔奖的阿尔弗雷德・诺贝尔吗？据称，他的弟弟去世时，一家报纸弄错了消息，刊登了他的讣告，他碰巧读到后深感震惊，随即意识到自己必须改变行事方式。
Don’t count on a newsroom mix-up: Decide what you would like your obituary to say and live the life to deserve it.
别指望靠报社的失误来警醒自己：不妨先想清楚你希望自己的讣告上写些什么，再用一生的行动去配得上这份评价。
Greatness does not come about through accumulating great amounts of money, great amounts of publicity or great power in government. When you help someone in any of thousands of ways, you help the world. Kindness is costless but also priceless. Whether you are religious or not, it’s hard to beat The Golden Rule as a guide to behavior.
伟大并非源于积累巨额财富、获得大量曝光或掌握政府大权。当你以成千上万种方式中的任何一种帮助他人时，你就是在为这个世界做贡献。善良无需成本，却价值连城。无论你是否信仰宗教，“黄金法则” 都是行为准则的不二之选【 —— 它的核心是 “己所不欲，勿施于人”，也是全球各大文化与信仰中普遍认可的朴素待人之道。】
I write this as one who has been thoughtless countless times and made many mistakes but also became very lucky in learning from some wonderful friends how to behave better (still a long way from perfect, however). Keep in mind that the cleaning lady is as much a human being as the Chairman.
写下这些话的我，曾无数次思虑不周，犯下诸多错误，但也有幸从众多优秀的朋友身上，学到了更妥帖的处世之道（尽管距离 “完美”，我还有很长的路要走）。请一定记住：保洁员和董事长，本质上都是平等的人。
I wish all who read this a very happy Thanksgiving. Yes, even the jerks; it’s never too late to change. Remember to thank America for maximizing your opportunities. But it is – inevitably – capricious and sometimes venal in distributing its rewards.
祝愿所有读到这封信的人感恩节快乐。是的，即便是那些 “讨厌鬼” 也不例外；改变永远不嫌晚。记得感谢美国为你创造了最大化的机遇，但不可避免的是，这个国家在分配回报时，往往变幻莫测，有时甚至存在不公。
Choose your heroes very carefully and then emulate them. You will never be perfect, but you can always be better.
慎重选择你的榜样，而后用心效仿他们。你永远成不了完美之人，但总能一步步变得更好。
About Berkshire
关于伯克希尔
Berkshire Hathaway and its subsidiaries engage in diverse business activities including insurance and reinsurance, utilities and energy, freight rail transportation, manufacturing, services and retailing. Common stock of the company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, trading symbols BRK.A and BRK.B. – End –
伯克希尔・哈撒韦公司及其子公司从事多元化经营活动，涵盖保险与再保险、公用事业与能源、铁路货运、制造业、服务业及零售业等领域。公司普通股在纽约证券交易所上市交易，股票代码为 BRK.A 和 BRK.B。
—— 完 ——
Contact
联系方式
Marc D. Hamburg
402-346-1400
马克・D・汉布格
电话：402-346-1400